Caving in the Chartreuse

[CavingForLemons]

So, later this month, I'm finding myself in the Chartreause with a few days to spare and my caving kit and ropes in the car....

Any recommendations for caving trips? And does anyone have any resources/topos/route descriptions for caves in the area?

Mostly looking for shorter trips without too much SRT but open to any and all ideas. Thank you!

 

[langcliffe]

There is quite a lot of scope in Réseau de la Dent de Crolles for the solo caver. Even if you don't fancy a nice long round trip, or a pull-through, possible options without needing to take rope include following: the master cave in the Guiers Mort as far as the where the original route came in from the Trou du Glaz; having a nice long look around the fossil series in Guiers Mort, as far as the Cascade Rocheuse; exploring Trou du Glaz as far as Petzl Shaft ; Grotte Annette as far as the bottom of Grog Shaft, and Grotte Chevalier to the end. The first three require SRT kit and use fixed ropes; the latter two require no tackle.

More details here: https://www.braemoor.co.uk/crolles/.

 

[snebbit]

The Dent de Crolles is a good well-documented one. See @langcliffe 's excellent site about it. Route guides in English and a high res survey. I used it for a solo trip in the Guiers Mort a couple of years ago when I found myself in the area too.

I'm about 1h30 away from the Chartreuse at the moment and considering popping up to have a scout in the Diau in the nearby Bauges (hoping to drag some people over to do the through trip someday in the future) so will report back if it's another good solo option.

 

[snebbit]

Oh Langcliffe himself pipped me to it by seconds! Thanks again for your efforts with that site

 

[snebbit]

I also have Chartreuse Souterrain somewhere (a big beefy topo book) so if you find any other interesting possibles @CavingForLemons PM me and I can send topos and descriptions

 

[mrodoc]

Pierre Chevalier's book on the exploration of the Dent de Crolles system is sufficient to get around the cave as it was then known. It was incredible on our first trip through to encounter features and recognize them instantly from descriptions in the book.

 

[langcliffe]

Pierre Chevalier's book on the exploration of the Dent de Crolles system is sufficient to get around the cave as it was then known. It was incredible on our first trip through to encounter features and recognize them instantly from descriptions in the book.

That is true. We used the descriptions and surveys from Chevalier's book when I first did the Trou du Glaz to the Annette Bouchacourt traverse in about 1976, and explored the Guiers Mort as far as the traditional connection with the Trou du Glaz (then sumped). In fact, all but the first route itemised in my first post above could be done using Chevalier's book.

Having said that, when Chevalier's book was written there were but three entrances and under 17 kilometres of known passage. There are now eighteen entrances and over 60 kilometres of known passage - so a little more scope.

 

[mrodoc]

That is true. We used the descriptions and surveys from Chevalier's book when I first did the Trou du Glaz to the Annette Bouchacourt traverse in about 1976, and explored the Guiers Mort as far as the traditional connection with the Trou du Glaz (then sumped). In fact, all but the first route itemised in my first post above could be done using Chevalier's book.

Having said that, when Chevalier's book was written there were but three entrances and under 17 kilometres of known passage. There are now eighteen entrances and over 60 kilometres of known passage - so a little more scope.

Agreed. On our trip in the 80's we visited the Metro and I was saddened by the broken stal and carbide dumps. Spent a draughty few hours there once waiting for a party doing the through trip from the Gouffre Therese.